CLEVELAND (August 3, 2016) – This week, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC) will welcome to Cleveland a thousand yo-yo players and fans from 20+ countries for the 2016 World Yo-Yo Contest, a seven-division battle for the World Yo-Yo Champion titles. The event, regarded as the largest gathering of competitive yo-yo players and fans in the world, will take place today, Aug. 3, through Saturday Aug. 6, at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.

“The Yo-Yo Contest is another amplifier of Cleveland’s positive energy and changing a narrative turbocharged by the Cleveland Cavaliers historical championship run and an equally successful, Republican National Convention,” said David Gilbert, president and CEO, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. “The event itself will bring more than a thousand competitors and fans from as far as Japan, Iceland and numerous other countries, the majority of whom will see our championship city for the first time as we are shining our brightest.”

Yo-yo contestants vying for one of the seven division world champion titles are selected from a series of preliminary rounds comprised of one-minute yo-yo routines performed by each competitor. Those selected attend the championship event which includes five styles of play: 1A (single yo-yo), 2A (double yo-yo looping), 3A (double yo-yo sleeping), 4A (off string) and 5A (counterweight).

Twenty-year yo-yo veteran and Northeast Ohio native, Steve Brown, led the effort to bring the Yo-Yo Contest to Cleveland, which is also the debut of the competition in the state of Ohio.

“This year’s contest will be the first time in three years that it is back on US soil. How great is it to represent my city and my country one year ago in Tokyo, and to now help bring the sport I love back to Cleveland where the excitement and attitude have never been any higher, “said Steve Brown who is the Head Organizer for the World Yo-Yo Contest coming to Cleveland along with being one of eight “National Yo-Yo masters.”

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In addition to the division competitions, the week will also include the following activities:

o 6 p.m. Guinness World Record attempt for “Most People Simultaneously Yo-Yoing” coordinated by master yo-yo performer, John Higby, Public Square

 All participants will receive a free Duncan.

 Saturday, Aug. 6

o 7:30 p.m. Final after-party held outside the Renaissance Hotel on Public Square

Tickets are available for purchase to the public. For general (non-contestant) admission, one-day tickets ($15) or a four-day pass ($45) are available for purchase at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. Admission is free for children five and under. For a schedule of each day’s events, please click here.

The 2016 World Yo-Yo Contest is one of 10 events taking place this year supported/hosted by the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. Other events include the Donate Life Transplant Games of America, USA Junior Olympic Fencing Championships and Junior Volleyball Association Rock n’ Rumble National Tournament.

To view footage from the 2015 World Yo-Yo Contest in Tokyo, please click here.

To learn more about the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission or to keep up-to-date on upcoming events, please visit www.clevelandsports.org or follow up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

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About the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission prides itself on being one of the most distinguished Sports Commissions in the country, effectively leveraging sports events and activities to further economic development in Northeast Ohio. The philosophy of the Sports Commission sets it apart from others by operating as an economic and community development organization utilizing sports as a vehicle to forward other community agendas. The organization takes the unique approach of becoming a management and financial partner in each event with the goal of producing events that are more successful in Cleveland than other cities in which they have been held. Since 2000, the Sports Commission has been responsible for attracting over 160 sporting events, contributing to more than $450 million in economic activity. For more information, visit www.clevelandsports.org.